Class Action Lawsuit Alleges CVS Pharmacy Misleadingly Advertises Dosages for Calcium, Glucosamine Supplements

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that CVS Pharmacy deceptively labels its calcium and glucosamine supplements, given that the products contain a fraction of the advertised dosage per softgel or capsule.

Get class action lawsuit and class action settlement news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

The 32-page false advertising lawsuit says that despite the front-label dosage claims for the defendant’s Calcium 1200 mg + D3 and CVS Glucosamine HCI 1500 mg Chondroitin Sulfate 1200 mg supplements, consumers are unaware that they must ingest two or three softgels to obtain the advertised dosage amounts.

Per the suit, consumers have “grossly overpa[id]” for the supplements, given that each product provides “only half or a third of the advertised value.”

According to the class action lawsuit, reasonable consumers understand CVS’s front-label representations to mean that each individual softgel or capsule contains the advertised dosage of calcium, glucosamine and chondroitin, which the case says CVS conspicuously displays to “grab the consumer’s attention.”

However, consumers must ingest two of the Calcium 1200 mg + D3 softgels, and three capsules of CVS Glucosamine HCI 1500 mg Chondroitin Sulfate 1200 mg, to achieve the advertised dosage displayed on the supplement’s packaging, the case says.

High-dosage supplements have enjoyed increased popularity in recent years, and the filing says that CVS is one of many companies that “scrambled” to manufacture and sell high-dosage supplements to capitalize on consumer interest.

The complaint claims that rather than create an actual high-dosage supplement, CVS opted instead to make products with lower dosages, then market them with deceptive labeling and packaging claims.

The case says that CVS’s competitors avoid this problem by using dosage representations that are on a per-softgel or capsule basis, or by including representations with a disclaimer such as “per 4 caplets.”

The CVS class action lawsuit looks to cover all United States citizens who purchased the products in their respective state of citizenship for personal or household use and not for resale within the applicable statute of limitations period and until the date class notice is disseminated.

Did you know that some class action settlements require no proof to submit a claim? Check out the latest current class action settlements.